This class represents a "provider" for the Java Security API, where a provider implements some or all parts of Java Security. Services that a provider may implement include:

• Algorithms (such as DSA, RSA, MD5 or SHA-1).
• Key generation, conversion, and management facilities (such as for algorithm-specific keys).

Each provider has a name and a version number, and is configured in each runtime it is installed in.

See The Provider Class in the "Java Cryptography Architecture API Specification & Reference" for information about how a particular type of provider, the cryptographic service provider, works and is installed. However, please note that a provider can be used to implement any security service in Java that uses a pluggable architecture with a choice of implementations that fit underneath.

Some provider implementations may encounter unrecoverable internal errors during their operation, for example a failure to communicate with a security token. A ProviderException should be used to indicate such errors.

The service type Provider is reserved for use by the security framework. Services of this type cannot be added, removed, or modified by applications. The following attributes are automatically placed in each Provider object:

Attributes Automatically Placed in a Provider Object

Name	Value
Provider.id name	String.valueOf(provider.getName())
Provider.id version	String.valueOf(provider.getVersion())
Provider.id info	String.valueOf(provider.getInfo())
Provider.id className	provider.getClass().getName()

extends Properties